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Czech Republic

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CAPITAL	Prague

AREA	78,864 sq km

POPULATION	10.3 million

LANGUAGE	Czech

CURRENCY	Czech Koruna (CZK). Fortunately credit cards are also becoming more widely accepted

TIME	GMT +1 hour

TELEPHONE CODES	00 42

ELECTRICITY	220V, 50 Hz AC



Prague

Visas: Nationals of all Western European countries can visit the Czech Republic for up to 90 days, without a visa; citizens of the UK and Irish Republic can stay for up to 180 days; and US and Canadian passport holders can stay for 30 days. Nationals of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and many other countries must obtain a visa, which is good for a stay of between 30 and 90 days, depending on your nationality.

Public holidays: New Year's Day; 2 Jan; Easter Monday; Labour Day; 8 May; Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (5 July); Martyrdom of Jan Hus (6 July); Independence Day (28 Oct); Christmas Eve, Christmas.

Good buys: Crystal and ceramics.

Local dishes: Czech cuisine is basically central European, with German, Hungarian and Polish influences. Expect lots of meat dishes served with generous portions of dumplings, potatoes or rice and thick sauces, plus heavily cooked vegetables or sauerkraut. A typical example is knedlo-zelo-vepro (dumplings, sauerkraut and roast pork).

Funny fact: Czechs are the biggest consumers of beer per male in the world. Incidentally, a Czech man called Jan Honza Zampa holds the record for beer guzzling, after drinking one litre of beer in 4.11 seconds.

Good reading: Delve into the world of Kafka, through his most famous novels, The Trial, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, and The Castle. Derek Sayer's Coasts of Bohemia (Princeton University Press) is a comprehensive and engaging history of the Czechs and their country, while the fourth edition of the Time Out Prague Guide (Penguin) is the most authoritative of the many city guides. For an evocative snapshot of Prague life just moments before the Velvet Revolution, Bruce Chatwin's Utz (Vintage), about an obsessive collector of Meissen porcelain, is to be recommended.